Rail

Federal stimulus to fund Seattle track improvements

The Sound Transit board of directors awarded a contract for track and signal improvements on the Tacoma-to-Lakewood rail corridor, boosted by a $4.6 million federal stimulus infusion that will help bring commuter rail service to South Tacoma and Lakewood.

The $4.6 million grant is part of $131 million in federal stimulus funds for transit projects in the Puget Sound region. Sound Transit will receive a total of $23 million for five shovel-ready construction projects in communities throughout the Sound Transit District.

The M Street-to-Lakewood Track and Signal project will upgrade seven miles of existing track and street crossings on the rail corridor from South M Street in Tacoma to Bridgeport Way Southwest near Lakewood Station, which opened for express bus service last September. The federal grant and other project savings will be used to help close the funding gap for work between D Street and M Street in Tacoma that is also needed to expand Sounder service south by 2012.

The upgrades made along the seven-mile stretch of rail include all new track and signal systems and improvements to 11 at-grade railroad crossings to meet current passenger rail safety standards along the corridor, which Sound Transit purchased from BNSF Railway. Layover tracks for train storage will also be added north of Lakewood Station.

This contract includes high voltage cabling from the state grid for the new 16-mile metro line. Alstom is the main supplier of Kochi metro after it has been awarded previous orders for 25 Metropolis trainsets, signalling, telecom and electrification. Commercial service is scheduled to begin in March 2016.

The contract, which is for a ten-year period with the option to extend another 5 years, covers maintenance and spare parts on 74 four-car Class 357 ELECTROSTAR trains and is valued at approximately $213 million.

The train wreck, which occurred in the early morning of March 24, 2014, when the operator allegedly fell asleep, injured more than 30 people and caused roughly $9 million in damage. The lead railcar had to be cut up to remove it from the escalator.